General

Study suggests ‘genetic advantage’ keeps some people slim and healthy.

As many people have long suspected, the genetic dice are loaded in favour of thin people when it comes to staying slim.

Some people seem to be able to eat all the burgers and chips they like and and stay the same size, shape and weight all their life. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered that they have a genetic advantage over their overweight friends who live and eat in the same way that they do.

Prof Sadaf Farooqi at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science recruited 2,000 healthy but thin individuals for a study called Stilts (Study Into Lean and Thin Subjects) to find out whether there was something particular about their lives or their genes. All had a BMI of less than 18, which is technically underweight, but they were healthy and did not have an eating disorder. The identification and recruitment of this cohort was supported by the National Institute for Health Research.

The study, which was published in the journal Plos Genetics, examined the DNA of nearly 1,600 members of the thin cohort and 2,000 people who were severely obese, comparing both with a further 10,400 people of normal weight.

The team found several common genetic variants already identified as playing a role in obesity.

“As anticipated, we found that obese people had a higher genetic risk score than normal-weight people, which contributes to their risk of being overweight. The genetic dice are loaded against them,” said Dr Inês Barroso, whose team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute carried the genetic analysis.

The thin people, on the other hand, had a much lower genetic risk score. Three out of four of them came from families whose members also had a tendency to be thin and healthy.

“This research shows for the first time that healthy thin people are generally thin because they have a lower burden of genes that increase a person’s chances of being overweight and not because they are morally superior, as some people like to suggest,” said Farooqi. “It’s easy to rush to judgment and criticise people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think.”

DIABETES type 2 risk could be lowered by making some diet or lifestyle changes. You could prevent high blood sugar symptoms and signs by changing your cooking oil. This is the oil you should be adding to your diet.

Diabetes is a common condition that affects almost four million people in the UK. It’s caused by the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the body not reacting to insulin. The hormone is used by the body to convert sugar in the blood into useable energy. You could lower your risk of diabetes symptoms by cooking with avocado oil, it’s been claimed.

Diabetes patients can eat as much avocado oil as they’d like, according to nutritionist Sarah Flower.

It’s a low-carbohydrate food, meaning it won’t have any major impact on patients’ blood sugar levels.

“These foods contain less than 5g of carbohydrates per 100g, meaning they are very low carb,” said Flower, in her book ‘Eating To Beat Type 2 Diabetes’.

“The joy of this way of eating is feeling satisfied after eating, and unlike a low-calorie/low-fat diet, you are not fighting hunger.

“Remember, although the foods are deemed unlimited, if you find you are not losing weight or your blood sugars are not coming down, you may need to start calculating your carbohydrates to ensure you are consuming no more than 20-30g per day.

“Our body takes in sugars and carbohydrates and converts these into glucose – what we are told is our main fuel source.

“Glucose is quite dangerous when it floods into our blood, so our pancreas releases insulin to help move this glucose into a safe place.”

If you aren’t a fan of avocado oil, you could also try using macadamia oil, coconut oil or good-quality olive oil, added Flower.

But it’s crucial to avoid using seed oils and commercial oils, as they could raise blood sugar levels, warned the nutritionist.

DIABETES type 2 symptoms can include unexplained weight loss, passing more urine than normal, and feeling very tired. But you could also be at risk of high blood sugar signs if you have any of these common symptoms that you could be ignoring.

Diabetes is a common condition that affects almost four million people in the UK, and 90 per cent of all cases are caused by type 2 diabetes. It’s caused by the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the body not reacting to insulin. Without enough of the hormone, the body struggles to convert sugar in the blood into useable energy. You could be at risk of diabetes symptoms if you notice a tingling in your feet, it’s been claimed.

A numbness or tingling in the feet may be a hidden warning sign of type 2 diabetes, according to Diabetes Advanced Podiatrist, Donna Welch.

It could be a sign of nerve damage in the feet, which is linked to diabetes. It could increase the risk of infections or wounds without the patient necessarily noticing.

Speak to a doctor if you have a persistent tingling in your feet, said the podiatrist.

“If patients are experiencing signs of nerve damage – numbness, tingling, loss of sensation in the feet – they are at risk of hurting themselves and being unaware,” said Welch.

“They should see their GP if concerned and be tested for diabetes. In addition, people with diabetes can experience painful neuropathy or hypersensitive feet, things that should not hurt do, for example they cannot bare to wear socks or shoes.

“If an individual is getting repeated infections or have hard to heal wounds they should see their GP for advice and be tested for diabetes as raised blood glucose levels can effect wound healing.”

You could also be at risk of diabetes symptoms if your gums are frequently becoming inflamed.

Inflamed or infected gums are a warning sign of gum disease, which may be caused by high blood sugar levels in the mouth, added Qured Head of Operations, Dr Amy Bibby.

“Inflamed or infected gums, also known as periodontitis, is linked to diabetes because high glucose levels in the mouth can help bacteria grow and therefore provoke gum disease.”

Finding dark patches of skin on your body could also be caused by the high blood sugar condition, she added.

“Another sign – skin discoloration, particularly around the back of your neck and under the armpits – can be a sign of insulin resistance and therefore diabetes.”

More common diabetes symptoms include passing more urine than normal, unexplained weight loss, and having blurred vision.

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can have similar symptoms, except weight loss is more commonly linked to type 1 diabetes.

Many people could be living with diabetes without even knowing it, because the symptoms don’t necessarily make you feel unwell.

But, diagnosing the condition early is crucial, as diabetes raises the risk of some deadly complications, including heart disease and strokes.

Speak to a doctor if you’re worried about the signs or symptoms of diabetes, or if you think you may be more at risk.

OBESITY is a condition which affects one in every four adults in the UK, but how do you know if you are obese? How is obesity measured?

There are calls for obesity to be recognised as a disease rather than a lifestyle choice, industry officials have said. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said it was necessary for the government to recognise the overweight condition as a disease in order for people to receive specialist care in an effort to reduce their weight. Obesity is thought to affect around one in every four adults in the UK, and roughly one in five children aged 10 to 11.

How do you know if you’re obese?

The most common way to define if someone is obese is the body mass index (BMI).

BMI is a measure of whether you’re a healthy weight for your height, according to the NHS.

If you have a BMI of 30 to 39.9 it means you are obese, anything 40 or above means you are severely obese.

However BMI is not a definitive guide to judging obesity, as someone who is muscular can have a high BMI but does not have excess fat.

But for the most people it is a useful indication of obesity.

Another way of measuring obesity it to measure someone’s waist circumference.

Men with a waist circumference of 94cm or more and a woman with a was it of 80cm or more are more likely to develop obesity-related health problems.

RCP president professor Andrew Goddard said it was important to reclassify obesity to “remove the stigma” associated with the overweight condition.

He said: “It is not lifestyle choice caused by individual greed, but a disease caused by health inequalities, genetic influences and social factors.

“It is governments, not individuals which can have an impact on the food environment through regulation and taxation, and by controlling availability and affordability.

“Governments can also promote physical activity by ensuring that facilities are available to local communities, and through legislation and public health initiatives.”

Research by the World Health Organisation found 30 percent of adults in the UK are obese and the number has tripled since 1980.

The UK is in fact the most obese country in western Europe.

NHS Digital statistics shows the health service spends around £6bn a year treating obesity and the condition is responsible for more than 30,000 deaths a year.

Detection dogs spotted 83 per cent of more than 4,000 episodes of unacceptably high or low blood sugar during trial, and provided a quicker alert than other monitors in some cases.

Dogs trained to sniff out life-threatening blood sugar crashes in people with type 1 diabetes have been shown to effectively spot the condition, which can render patients unconscious, in the first large-scale trial of its type.

The University of Bristol research found medical detection dogs were able to spot 83 per cent of more than 4,000 episodes of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), minimising the risk of harmful health complications.

They can be particularly effective in monitoring patients who might have unexpectedly low glucose levels at night or for young people who are less able to keep track of their blood sugar with a conventional device.

The Bristol study found the dogs “vastly improved” their owners’ quality of life by giving them peace of mind over their condition as well as other psychological benefits.

“Our study provides the first large-scale evaluation of using medical detection dogs to detect hypoglycaemia,” said lead author Dr Nicola Rooney from the university’s Bristol Veterinary School.

Some patients with type 1 diabetes are now eligible for wearable blood sugar monitors which provide a constant reading of glucose levels, but while no system is perfect Dr Rooney said the dogs sometimes outperformed these devices.

Where blood sugar falls outside of an acceptable range, the medical detection dogs are trained to alert their owners through nuzzling or licking so they can take an insulin injection to reduce blood sugar or eat something to boost it.

Dr Claire Guest, chief executive and co-founder of MDD, said: “The findings are fantastic news for all those who are living with type 1 diabetes and other conditions.”

The charity was set up in 2008 and trains the animals in tandem with NHS trusts and families. It has trained dogs to support patients with seizures, nut allergies and other conditions.

About

Silver Star Diabetes is a registered charity campaigning to provide diabetes awareness. The Charity runs Mobile Diabetes Units which main role is to to carry out important diabetes testing and to promote culturally sensitive healthcare in the major towns and cities of Britain.
There are currently over 3 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and another over 1 million people who have type 2 diabetes but do not yet know it.